Dallas Cowboys’ Bland makes history with fifth pick-6

Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland tied a record for most pick-sixes in a single season last week. On Thanksgiving Day, he broke the record with his fifth pick-six of the season.

The Cowboys were playing NFC East foes the Washington Commanders and already had a confident lead in the fourth quarter, but Bland was determined. Commanders quarterback Sam Howell threw a pass intended for Dotson, but Bland caught the pass and took off with it, dodging several defenders to run 63 yards into the end zone and become the defender with the most pick-sixes in a single season.

Bland first to beat record in three decades

As we wrote last week, Bland has been logging pick-sixes since high school, when he recorded three throughout his career. Since then, he’s perfected the art, becoming the first NFL player to log five in a single season - and the season isn’t even over yet. At this rate, he could log even more before the end of the year.

Before today, the record was a three-way tie with Ken Houston (Houston Oilers, 1971), Jim Kearney (Chiefs, 1972), and Eric Allen (Eagles, 1993), so Bland is the first to break that record (or even tie it) in three whole decades. He has also logged 12 interceptions in just two seasons in the league (seven this season).

Bland’s other pick-sixes this season came against the New York Giants in Week 1 (22 yards), the New England Patriots in Week 4 (54 yards), the Los Angeles Rams in Week 7 (30 yards), and the Carolina Panthers in Week 11 (31 yards).